Key Documents
The Asia Region Funds Passport (the passport) is an APEC initiative which aims to create a regulatory arrangement for the cross-border offer of collective investment schemes in participating economies. The passport will enable fund operators in passport member economies to offer eligible schemes to retail investors in other member economies under a streamlined process.
The passport working group (Australia, Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) has prepared this consultation paper to seek views from the public on the details of the proposed arrangements. This follows the signing of a statement of intent on the passport by finance ministers from Australia, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore in September 2013, committing to jointly issue such a paper.
Following this consultation, economies who decide that they want to be passport member economies will work to finalise the arrangements by early 2015 with a view to the passport commencing in 2016.
The passport was a recommendation of the 2009 report, Australia as a Financial Centre: building on our strengths by the Australian Financial Centre Forum chaired by Mr Mark Johnson, AO.
Australia is represented on the passport working group by officials from Treasury and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.